We’ve all seen a Craigslist ad that looks more like a crime scene than a room to rent. Before Airbnb, no one thought meeting a stranger on the internet and crashing on their couch was a good idea. And if you spend any time on Craigslist, you can understand why.

Chris Sacca, retired billionaire investor, rejected the Airbnb founders when they pitched him. All he saw was a risk, but not the typical risk venture capitalists pride themselves on taking. He was more concerned with violent crime than explosive growth.

So how did the Airbnb founders solve this problem? They focused on visual design and user experience. Craigslist still runs traditional classified ads. They never messed with the proven formula. That's why their site design is stuck in 1997.

Airbnb seduces you with their style. Their website is simple and clean. Each page features plenty of content, but it's paced with ample white space. The confidence of their design makes you feel calm.

The goal is to showcase their rentals. The success of Airbnb lives and dies on the appearance of its listings. There’s a famous story of how this came to be.

Airbnb wasn't doing too well in New York, so the founders flew out there to figure out what was wrong. The rentals were fine. It soon became clear that the listings were the problem. Hosts didn't know how to shoot good photos.

The founders considered providing photography lessons via email, but it was too risky. There was no guarantee people would engage with the offer or learn anything if they did. They decided to spend $5,000 on professional photos instead. It paid off. They saw a 2.5x increase in bookings. This was the beginning of Airbnb’s photography service.

Photos play a strong role in the success of Airbnb. Their onboarding workflow also places an emphasis on images. Airbnb forces you to upload a profile picture, which creates friction. In UX design, friction refers to anything that might cause users to stop filling out a form. Requiring a phone number is a classic example of friction.

Platforms do everything they can to avoid this. Most product designers would never force users to upload profile pictures. It's not worth the potential drop-off. That’s why you see generic avatars in place of user photos on bad social networking sites. They're afraid users won't finish their onboarding, so they make almost everything optional.

If a social network doesn't require a profile picture, why would a home sharing platform? It’s the same reason why Airbnb paid $5,000 for professional photography when they couldn’t afford it. The impact of seeing your host's smile is profound. It’s inviting and warm. It’s nothing like Craigslist.

The moment you see a person for the first time, you create a story in your head. You humanize them. This step is essential if you want to build trust. It puts users at ease, which opens them up to the idea of staying in a stranger’s home. This human connection is critical for both the guest and the host.

Photos are the main arrow in Airbnb’s design quiver, but there's another tactic I want to highlight. It's a simple one. You can connect your social accounts to your Airbnb profile. This makes it easier to stay with friends and see mutual connections, but it also provides social proof. It shows you exist outside of Airbnb.

It’s easy to create a phony listing. Creating an entire online identity across multiple platforms would take some time. That's why connecting your social accounts has so much power. When I first signed up for Airbnb, I made sure all my paperwork was in order. I treated it like a tax audit. I sent emails to friends a week in advance to line up my recommendations. Then I connected my social accounts.

The early days of the web were seedy. Everyone associated it with child predators on message boards. No one trusted the internet back then. AOL provided a safer space than most, but it still had its dangers and the experience was impersonal.

No one revealed their real name online, let alone photos of their home and the area where they lived. That's why the shift from Myspace to Facebook was so profound. The username became an actual name. It introduced a human dimension to the online experience. It made the internet an extension of our everyday lives.

Airbnb continues this tradition by challenging our boundaries. They provide a compassionate online community of guests and hosts. During Hurricane Sandy and the recent refugee crisis, they offered free housing.

Their logo may look inappropriate for children, but their design is top notch. Two of Airbnb's founders, Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia, went to the Rhode Island School of Design. That's their competitive advantage. They took a problem that needed a human touch and they solved it through design.